Prep girls tennis: Branson blanks Albany in section tournament opener

After winning the MCAL championships two weeks ago, the Branson School girls tennis team has continued to show it is a force to be reckoned with after defeating Albany 7-0 in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division II playoffs.

"There are some pretty solid players in these Division II schools," Branson coach Jenno Morson said. "I've really tried to emphasize to my players that we don't know what's coming at us so we have to be prepared for anything."

Branson (18-2) was certainly prepared for Albany (14-2) as the Bulls took the first-round sweep.

The No. 1 singles match where Branson's Paige Cline defeated Allison Chuang 6-3, 6-4 was the match of the day, according to Morson.

"She is playing as aggressive and confident (now) as she did in all of her MCAL matches," Morson said. "The fact that she can move and hit just as well against a highly ranked player like that shows how strong of a player she is."

The Bulls (18-2) also got strong play from their No. 2 singles player Megan Scholvinck, who defeated April Ngo 6-4, 6-1.

"(For Bryan-Ajania) it was more about not focusing on the other player, but more on what she can do to improve her game," Morson said. "Once she focused on herself the rest just took care of itself."

Branson also got strong play from its doubles teams, highlighted by Natalie Yates and Lindsey Dale's 6-4, 6-1 win over Maya Delany and Jenny Wu at No. 1 doubles.

Tam 7, Arroyo 0

SAN LORENZO — Second-seeded Tam (23-4) rolled past Arroyo (9-6) during the NCS D-II first-round match to earn a quarterfinal matchup with No. 7 San Ramon Valley (14-4) on Thursday at Tam at 2 p.m. No other details were available for the match against Arroyo.